Correlation of clinical characteristics, by calculation of SCIO index, with the laboratory diagnosis of onychomycosis

BackgroundDescriptions of clinical characteristics of patients hospitalised withCOVID-19, their clinical course and short-term inpatient and outpatient outcomes in deprived urban populations in the UK are still relatively sparse. We describe the epidemiology, clinical course, experience of non-invasive ventilation and intensive care, mortality and short-term sequelae of patients admitted to two large District General Hospitals across a large East London National Health Service Trust during the first wave of the pandemic.MethodsA retrospective analysis was carried out on a cohort of 1946 patients with a clinical or laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, including descriptive statistics and survival analysis. A more detailed analysis was undertaken of a subset of patients admitted across three respiratory units in the trust.ResultsIncreasing age, male sex and Asian ethnicity were associated with worse outcomes. Increasing severity of chest X-ray abnormalities trended with mortality. Radiological changes persisted in over 50% of cases at early follow-up (6 weeks). Ongoing symptoms including hair loss, memory impairment, breathlessness, cough and fatigue were reported in 70% of survivors, with 39% of patients unable to return to work due to ongoing symptoms.ConclusionsUnderstanding the acute clinical features, course of illness and outcomes of COVID-19 will be crucial in understanding the effect of differences in risk, as well as the effectiveness of new interventions and vaccination between the successive waves of the pandemic.

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Epidermolysis bullosa in Greece: the patients’ journey so far

International Journal of Research in Dermatology ◽

10.18203/issn.2455-4529.intjresdermatol20182414 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 282

Author(s):

Ioanna Verroiou ◽

Vassiliki N. Tzanetakou ◽

Alexandra Katsarou ◽

Giovanna Zambruno ◽

Daniele Castiglia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Epidermolysis Bullosa ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Laboratory Diagnosis ◽

Published Data ◽

Laboratory Assessment ◽

Inherited Disorders ◽

Mucosal Involvement ◽

Skin Fragility ◽

Diagnostic Management ◽

Adults And Children

Background: Hereditary epidermolysis bullosa (EB) represents a group of rare, inherited disorders with different penetrance patterns characterized by skin fragility and easy inducibility of blisters. Mucosal involvement of internal organs may occur. As no published data on EB in Greece exist, this study aimed to record demographics and clinical characteristics of EB patients. Another objective was to identify the associations among clinical characteristics of different types in connection with immunofluorescence mapping (IMF) findings and molecular analysis (MA) used for the laboratory diagnosis of the disease.Methods: This is a descriptive study conducted at the outpatient clinic of rare diseases of Andreas Sygros Hospital, Athens, Greece from March 2012 until February 2015. Adults and children presenting with EB were enrolled. Patients underwent a thorough clinical and laboratory assessment. Specific laboratory analyses were performed in Rome and two sets of data based on IFM and MA were collected.Results: In total, 41 patients were enrolled. Prevalence rate of EB was 0.024%. The most frequent type was dystrophic EB, as it affected 20 patients (48.8%). Twelve patients (29.3%) were diagnosed with EB simplex, 6 patients (14.6%) with Kindler syndrome and 3 (7.3%) with junctional EB. IFM was performed in 26 patients and MA in 8 patients. The concordance among clinical and laboratory diagnosis was 88.5%.Conclusions: This study is the first report on hereditary EB in Greece. Since there is a lack in diagnostic management of EB, we would strongly encourage an effort to perform the required laboratory tests in Greece.

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Evaluating the validity of dengue clinical-epidemiological criteria for diagnosis in patients residing in a Brazilian endemic area

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ◽

10.1093/trstmh/traa031 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 114 (8) ◽

pp. 603-611

Author(s):

Elis Regina da Silva Ferreira ◽

Ana Carolina de Oliveira Gonçalves ◽

Alice Tobal Verro ◽

Eduardo A Undurraga ◽

Maurício Lacerda Nogueira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Tests ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Endemic Area ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Laboratory Diagnosis ◽

Substantial Variation ◽

Logistic Regressions ◽

Criteria For Diagnosis ◽

Sensitivity Specificity

Abstract Background We evaluated the validity of clinical diagnosis compared with laboratory diagnosis of dengue in a retrospective sample of patients in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Methods Our sample included 148 299 clinically (56.3%) or laboratory-diagnosed (43.7%) dengue cases. We compared the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of dengue patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics with laboratory-based diagnosis. We used logistic regressions to estimate the correlation between clinical and laboratory diagnosis of dengue and a full set of dengue signs and symptoms. Results We found substantial variability in sensitivity and specificity of signs and symptoms ranging from 0.8–81.1 and 21.5–99.6, respectively. Thrombocytopenia exhibited the highest PPV (92.0) and lowest NPV (42.2) and was the only symptom showing agreement with laboratory-confirmed dengue (φ = 0.38). The presence of exanthema and thrombocytopenia led to a greater likelihood of concordant clinical and laboratory diagnoses (exanthema: OR: 4.23; 95% CI: 2.09 to 8.57; thrombocytopenia: OR: 4.02; 95% CI: 1.32 to 12.27). Conclusions We found substantial variation in sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of dengue signs and symptoms. For accuracy, clinical and laboratory diagnosis of dengue should be performed concurrently. When laboratory tests are not available, we suggest focusing on the clinical manifestations most associated with dengue.

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